UNITED STATES
City of Angels
Kay Ebeling
THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2014
2 trips to Vatican since 2002
Still no communication with Pope
So Birmingham victim makes documentary
In a memorable segment of the film, Basta, Bernie McDaid tries to deliver a letter to a Vatican office. Dozens of other people enter as the Guards nod them in, but Bernie is left gesturing and pointing to papers in his hands. The caption reads “for 45 minutes, while negotiating, Bernie watches as people simply walk in.” On screen the guards look like Punch and Judy dolls as they keep blocking Bernie from entering the building.
“Basta! No Pity, No Shame, No Silence” documents years of Vatican runaround experienced by two survivors of pedophile priest Joseph Birmingham of Boston trying to communicate with The Vatican about the extent of the pedophile priest crisis. The film covers two trips to Rome in their effort to talk to Pope.
“At the second screening a survivor in his fifties stood up, talked about his life briefly, then mentioned for the first time in public that he was a survivor,” said Gary Bergeron who put together the film. “I still meet Birmingham survivors who I knew personally who I didn’t know were Birmingham survivors, they had never come forward before.”
“And we’re just talking about one priest.”
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